Russia announces new super missile is now ‘combat ready’, can flatten cities in seconds and travels 27x speed of sound
THE Kremlin's terrifying Avangard hypersonic missile system which can reduce US cities to rubble in seconds has now gone live.
Vladimir Putin boasts the nukes can travel up to 27 times the speed of sound and put Russia miles ahead in the arms race.
The country's Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu confirmed the first Avangard entered service at 10am Moscow time on 27 December.
“I congratulate you on this landmark event for the military and the entire nation,” he said during a conference call with his military leaders.
General Sergei Karakayev later revealed the Avangard was put on duty with a unit in the Orenburg region in the southern Ural Mountains.
Putin unveiled the missile among other prospective weapons systems in his state-of-the-nation address in March 2018.
He was quick to brag that its ability to make sharp manoeuvres on its way to a target will render current missile defence systems completely useless during any future world wars.
“It heads to target like a meteorite, like a fireball,” he said at the time.
He added the missile is designed using new composite materials to withstand temperatures of up to 2,000 Celsius resulting from a flight through the atmosphere at hypersonic speeds.
The military said the Avangard is capable of flying 27 times faster than the speed of sound while carrying a nuclear weapon of up to two megatons.
In December 2018, the weapon hit a practice target 3,700 mph away in a test launch at Dombarovskiy missile base in the southern Ural Mountains.
"The Avangard is invulnerable to intercept by any existing and prospective missile defence means of the potential adversary," Putin said after the test.
Only this week her made a point of boasting that Russia is the only country currently armed with hypersonic weapons.
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He noted that for the first time Russia is leading the world in developing an entire new class of weapons, unlike in the past when it was catching up with the US.
US intelligence analysts have warned the West has no defence against the nukes, which can hit anywhere in the world, reports claimed earlier this year.
Once launched from the rocket at high altitude, it is designed to use aerodynamic forces to sail on top of the atmosphere at hyper speeds.
